Both the Minutemen and Lalanne have endured an up and down season and much of it hinges on Lalanne’s play. When playing well, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound center is a difficult match up for many teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference. But the challenge lies within finding consistency.

According to Kellogg, if Lalanne replicates what he did in UMass’ 71-63 loss to Davidson Wednesday night, he’ll be on his way.

“Other than maybe a few plays down the stretch, I thought he played a great game and dominated the paint,” Kellogg said. “Now, I think for him, it’s a mindset.”

Lalanne scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 34 minutes against the Wildcats. He was responsible for two crucial turnovers late which swayed the balance of the game. But there were also stretches of play where the Minutemen dumped the ball to Lalanne in the post and let him create his own offense – a strategy they used early in the season but have strayed from recently.

Part of that was due to Lalanne not being on the floor.

He played just 16 minutes (he scored five points) in a road victory over La Salle. He played 24 minutes the game prior in a 69-55 loss to St. Bonaventure and 22 minutes in a win over Iona on Dec. 30.

But against George Mason, he scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in 26 minutes. He commanded attention in the paint in the second half. He’s blocked eight shots over his last three games. He looked more like the player everyone was used to seeing.

“I think he’s played a lot better as of late, honestly,” Kellogg said. “His effort’s been quite a bit better as of late against Davidson the other night he kind of dominated the game for a while.”

Lalanne, who is averaging 12.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, believes the improvement is due to more consistent effort.

“It feels pretty good,” he said. “(I’m) just doing the little things that were helping out at the beginning of the year.”

“I’m just sprinting the floor as hard as possible every single time,” Lalanne said. “(I’m) being active on the floor and moving my feet around. I try to do everything I can to help out the guards on offense and defense.”

Lalanne said he has no problem being the player the team relies on in crucial situations, and the Minutemen could use a strong effort against Rhode Island, which faces UMass at the Mullins Center Saturday.

The Rams’ (11-4, 3-1 A-10) only loss within the conference was to No. 17 Virginia Commonwealth. A win for UMass against a local rival and conference member above it in the standings could be what it needs to begin to stabilize its season.

“I wouldn’t say difficult, it’s more like an up and down year,” said Lalanne on the start to the season.

“We have our spurts where everything is going good and everyone’s playing good. Then we have a loss here or something happens and it brings us back down … we’re trying to build up and stay at the highest level possible.”

It’s been a gradual process, but the Minutemen are nearing a time to make a move. It could start against URI.

“I feel like we’re getting close,” Lalanne said.

“It’s a learning curve. I think we’re getting better, but we just have to hurry up and click because the end of the season is nearing and the postseason is around the corner, so we have to hurry up and click.”

Mark Chiarelli can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.